I took over the camera at Nan Desu Kan! Come, come seeeee my adventures! Der Tod is even there!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdBAXfASbag

Everyone in Colorado was SO NICE. My only regret is not being able to see more of you. Here's to hoping for a trip next year! Please enjoy the video~~! ♥ Also, please comment if you like it and be sure to subscribe, too! ♥

P.S. Casa Bonita is still awesome.

We did a little blog special about just some of the stuff that goes into a new series release and I got to be a part of it. There's a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into launching an anime on top of all the work the voice actors, directors, sound designers and the other members of the production crew do. So, without further ado, let's go look at some of the fun times at FUNimation!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xMmZCTMyLk

If you didn't notice, yes, that's me sporting a Toa from Dragonaut costume. Booty shorts of great justice! You guys like all the little toys on my desk?

Enjoy! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Office hijinks and randomness for July 14 and Le Chevalier D'eon:



http://blog.funimation.com/2009/07/happy-bastille-day/

I have a quick little cameo there at the end. Unfortunaely, I look all tired and frumpy because it was the morning and urrrgh. That bread sure did have a pleasant, nutty flavor, though! Ahhh, Rojas, he always takes one for the team.

Did you know Chevalier is one of my brands? It's also one of my all time favorite anime series, making it all the more special to get to work with it. Better yet, Amazon's having a wicked-awesome sale right now and you can now get the WHOLE THING for under 40 bucks!

http://www.amazon.com/Chevalier-dEon-Complete-Box-Set/dp/B001GT9DQ6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1247589278&sr=8-2

Yes, that's a lot of FANCINESS for the price, huh? I bought the whole thing as it was coming out a couple years ago and it was nearly that much PER VOLUME. So much cheaper now, SO MUCH.

Regardless of the nut cracking hijinks in the name of France, you should check it out. Beware, though- the show will bite you with the cosplay bug... HARD. Currently, I'm working on a Madame De Pompadour costume from it to wear with all the ladies of hcc_cosplay . Crazy, orange clad fluffy dress lady, you say? Shocking, I'm sure. It's going a little slowly because it is hard to find time to sew these days. Never fear, there will be much Pomp... soon enough. Can't WAIT.

On that note, don't we all love Chevalier?

I can't get the images to work, but to see what all my Bacano! spazz was about, go here:

http://blog.funimation.com/2009/06/funimation-anime-expo-preview-3-watch-more-anime

It's the Baccano! promo items I (and a certain really talented artist) worked on, aren't they cool?! If you are at Anime Expo, you can get your very own set from the super wicked awesome FUNimation booth. Buy 50 bucks worth of goodies or something Baccano! related and you can have one for your very own. I wish I had a good picture because these are so cool in person. Don't miss out because these goodies won't last long at all.

So... AX! I leave after work Thursday and will be there part of Friday, all of Saturday and all of Sunday before I fly home Sunday late night to back at work Monday. YOSH! I'm very excited!

I'll be bring two very simple costumes with me, both to be worn on Saturday. They will be Kuroha Diana Shiratori from Eden of the East and Rin from Mnemosyne no Musumetachi. Simple in design, complex in character, both these ladies are! I'll be around the convention and such, so please say hi!

Now, it's back to a very busy evening and packing for the trip. Wooooosh!

I realized LAST NIGHT that my little digicam takes VIDEO. Here I go using it for evil and interrupting two lazy cats during a perfectly good nap...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9IAi5RLDSQ

This is Taiga, the new kitten and Tiramisu, just being lazy while I provide commentary. Taiga had shots today, so she's pretty tired. I'll have to get video of her spazzing out sometime later. Kitten goes a mile a minute! Enjoy her in a pleasant relaxed state!

Please ignore my extra squeaky voice today. Lots of pollen in the air today and my allergies are going nutso.

As for me, it's a quick-ish (true quickness in shopping is impossible in Texas, I'm afraid) trip to the fabric store and sewing time! Yosh!!!

:(

So sad. I'm still happy to have met him, even if it was dressed as a sailor senshi. RIP, Mr. Kung Fu.

After a long and intense interview process, it's official- I am FUNimation's newest Brand Manager!

A new chapter begins and I am so extremely excited! Your animes are about to get a lot more citrussy, yeah! :)

(squeee!)


*Just so everone knows, this does not effect CosWorx in any way whatsoever. I'm still an owner and you can still ask me any wig questions you may have! Don't be shy!

So exhausted, but I NEED to share a thing of beauty. If you haven't seen the very unique animated feature, Sita Sings the Blues yet, it's available online and for FREE:



http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/

I highly encourage every single one of you to go watch this! There's so much to love here, the visuals, to the music, to the quirky style so go see! One little picture can't even begin to capture the styles and general awesomness that is this tale. It's really a treasure.

Sita is so awesome, in all of her forms. Watching this has got me interested in Indian folklore again, that's for sure!


I hope they make a DVD for this because it's a MUST OWN for me!

Now.... SLEEP!

Still have bunnies on the brain! This bunny is Tsuruya-san from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (figure).

Quinton, Kelly and I did a photoshoot at the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas on Sunday:




or check it out on cosplay.com:
http://www.cosplay.com/costume/205083/


I wasn't feeling my best that night and neither was poor Q. Still, the prettiness of the location makes up for the lack of prettiness of me! This suite was Russian Czar themed and just amazing. Everything was red and gold velvety goodness! Going with the Russian theme, the fridge was FILLED WITH VODKA. (Not free, though) I could live in the small pool sized bath tub alone, oh my....

It was good to FINALLY pattern this costume and it can serve as a nice base for several things I want to do in the future. Also, who doesn't love bunnygirls?

Unfortunately for a girl who wasn't feeling her best, the less you wear, the harder it is to pose. Ow ow ow ow ow. Still, Man, oh, man, do I like the look of bunny suits. Everyone woman should have one. They are awesome.

Now, I'm craving cheese, smoked or otherwise. First, it's back to studies and watching Obama's speech.

Ciao!

Totally stolen from dear reni_m

I really, REALLY hope this Australian recording is a signal that Elisabeth will be fully brought over in English:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZWn7CRZ6Fo

The dress needs more poof and floof, but this is so BEAUTIFUL. I get so many happy memories from this tume and it still gives me chills. Watch and see why!

On that note, Jun Sena is the HOTNESS. I simply can't wait for new Tsukigumi Elisabeth!


http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/elisabeth/

I repeat- HOTNESS.

Working on things for aimeekitty today...



No, it's not for a character or anything, just instructional purposes. It's a hair-band! You see, this took all of $10 retail to do (not counting the base wig), pretty cool, huh? The base is an Ivy in Moss Green with extensions to match, of course! Moss Green is a fabulous color with lots of dimension that I love showing to people. It's a nice, neutral green that works for many skin tones.

All you need is one pack of wefted extensions (From CosWorx ), a cheap fabric covered headband from a dollar store, some foam and glue (for this one, I used clear drying foam glue). Best part? NO HARM TO THE BASE WIG WHATSOEVER. You can go on to use it for other things and it's easier to pack, to boot!

The covering technique is different from some of the common methods a lot of cosplayers know. This one just has a different look and a different way of going about it that I find to work well.While covering a foam base with hair always takes a little patience, this method seems to take less time and provides ways to backtrack in construction so you don't ruin the hair if you mess up a bit. Oh wefted extentions just make life sooooo much easier!


So... that's it for now! I have a couple other little projects to finish tomorrow if I can get to them. For now, I'm going to heal from a rabid glue gun attack and relax some.

Aimee... I hope you like it!

HEARTS!

P.S. lots of things still need to be updated but, you know.... life has a way of getting busy, sorry about that. Please stay patient- at this point it's going to be a mondo-mega update that will be completely worth it!

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If you celebrate or just enjoy the season, Happy Christmas to you!

Also, Happy Birthday to one of my favorite characters in any series (not just Sakura Taisen), Reni Milchstrasse!

In celebration, a video!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbDiFgeTC_g

Oh course, Subarashiki Butai . Would you expect any less from me? And yes, years later, I STILL get chills. Whenever I get down, this song picks me right back up.

Enjoy the day, everyone!

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This morning, my dear kitty, Boo, passed away in her sleep after losing her battle with cancer.

Thank you to everyone who donated to her chemo fund and helped make her last months on this planet as happy as possible.

She was an amazing cat and I'm so thankful to have been able to spend part of my own life with her.

I love you so much, Miss Boo. You're at peace now and for that I am so glad.



You were very, very loved. So loved. I will always miss you.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Quinton gave me a big ol' DVD of images last night! Guess what I'm working on this morning?



So, that's your preview of Lust mach 2! This was taken shortly after filming the FUNimation Holiday special podcast at the FUNi office, near the recording studios. I think the images are turning out pretty nifty so far!

Secretly, the thing I enjoyed most was lurking around in the hallways and scaring people. Oh ho ho!

Of course, going through all the pictures from last year I haven't uploaded, I realize how far behind I've fallen. Provided things keep going well, I'll be able to make a good use of this Holiday break and get things DONE. Just a little bit per day and it shouldn't take too terribly long, right?

Wish me luck ;.; !

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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It's no secret. I love anime. I love manga. Because of this, I became a cosplayer and my love only continued to grow. My adoration of this art led me to go to Japan twice, creating some of my most treasured memories. All of my dearest friends, I have met through this wonderful fandom in one way or another.

Can you imagine being sentenced to 20 years in prison for having manga? Not writing or creating questionable content, but just BUYING A MANGA?

It's happening, and despite what you believe about free speech in the United States, it's happening right here, in AMERICA. A fellow fan is having his life turned upside down, just because he bought a comic from Japan.

If you love your manga, are a casual reader or, even more so, if you import any manga, artbooks, etc from Japan, please drop everything and read these articles posted on Anime News Network TODAY:

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2008-12-11/christopher-handley/carl-horn

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/editorial/2008-12-11/christopher-handley/jason-thompson

Please, think about your collection, think about what would happen if someone came and searched your artbooks and possessions right now. Would anything be considered obscene? Who would be judging if the content was obscene? Do you even know what exactly are the community standards in your area? What if someone thought that artbook picture of a costume breakdown that goes all the way down to underwear (or farther) you have in some little book shelved somewhere was OBSCENE? What if you could spend your most productive years in JAIL because of it?

It's happening, dear friends. The good thing is, you can stop it. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is helping with this case and you can donate as well. http://www.cbldf.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=2 .

Please think about the art you love so much and help another fan out. We as anime fans are such a close knit, open minded and awesome group of people. We gotta take care of our own here!

Update: I do not know the specific content of the manga in question. That's ulitmately for the jury and judge to go over. It's quite possible the content would be deeply offensive to me and/or my friends . That aside, I will leave this post with a recent quote from Neil Gaiman that's appropriate:

"If you accept -- and I do -- that freedom of speech is important, then you are going to have to defend the indefensible. That means you are going to be defending the right of people to read, or to write, or to say, what you don't say or like or want said."

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Well, it's Thanksgiving and there's a lot to be thankful for!

The United States elected an amazing new President and the balance of power has shifted a bit more liberal in Congress. Just my opinion, but I find this to be a sign of good things to come, but we'll see.

School is going quite well and finals week looms soon! I'm thankful for a good break soon!

I miss my West Coast friends dearly, but thank goodness for the internet.

I'm re-learning to bake a little and have yet to burn the house down with my endeavors! Soon, I will master wheat pizza crust! Until then, I'll try to channel my inner Lilli and cook better.

There's a Tira-mau around and I'm thankful she loafs quite often in my general direction.

Watching more new anime, trying desperately keep up with just what FUNimation is putting out, but still trying very hard to keep up. There's so much good stuff! FINALLY finishing Chevalier and am super hearts over Pompadour (of course)! Let's not forget Story of Saiunkoku, which is nothing short of AMAZING, so check it out!

I'm thankful for the love-love Luckystar and Curtis Plushie package from a certain person in Miami. They will add to my moe traits, indeed.

I'm thankful for so many good friends, even though I miss them dearly, as noted before. Especially today, Lionel, who is having a birthday!

There's hope for amazing opportunities on the horizon, just within reach! I'm thankful for that!

Disgaea 3 is also something to be thankful for! Today would be a good day for Item World, my favorite!

In other news of things to be thankful for, CosWorx is showing how thankful we are for YOU with a 20% off sale!!!! Just use coupon code THANKS8 at checkout for huge savings! Hey, what better use of your holiday breaks than working on exciting, new cosplay projects for 2009?

Speaking of that, This little break will be a good time to reflect on cosplay plans for 2009 as well! A friend of mine (and Jessie's secret boyfriend XD) is really on me to do a Soul Eater character, so we will see. There will be HCC things as well! Lots of big, exciting things, indeed!

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

While working on things, I snapped a quick picture of Tiramisu. Look at Miss Mau, all cute and serene on a sunny day!




She's a hard cat to photograph for some reason. Usually her eyes glow like she's charging her lasers. Her coloring usually doesn't come out right, but this time, it did!

So there you go, the loaftacular miss Mau, Tira!

YES WE CAN!!! YES WE DID!!!!


This one's for you, Emi, This one's for you! You don't even know how PROUD you make me feel right now! Everyone who voted with their hearts, I am so proud of you! WE DID IT!


Adam and I are with a group of Obama supporters (and mini Anderson Cooper *) in Texas and I'm crying tears of joy. This may be the happiest moment... ever. I'm crying so many tears of joy that I can be a part of history, a subject I love so much, RIGHT NOW.


I lift my glass of Champagne to toast you.. ALL!


A Hope, we can has it.

To the next four years!

*mini Anderson Cooper is actually a tiny cardboard bookmark. He's pretty awesome for parties and holding places in books.

Election day! Election day!

All my friends here in the United States, today is your day to make HISTORY!

Many people have fought and died so we can have this wonderful right and it is your duty to exercise it. By now, everyone has (hopefully) done their research, know their candidates and propositions for their area and are ready to GO. It's time to vote for what YOU think is right!

Well, everyone, today is GO TIME.

Last night, I stayed up to watch the results of the first polling station, Dixville Notch, Hew Hampshire, close. As for my choice, I hope it signals news to come.

As for my vote, it was early and it was for a great man. This man is going to make history and bring hope to the country I love so much. This country, America, I love her with all my heart but I don't always like the way she acts. Today, my little vote can help nudge her in the direction that's best in my opinion.


Today, we all get to make those little nudges. Go! Go out and vote! Your nudge matters!

Tonight, whatever the results are, history will happen. Let's enjoy it. Mr. Obama, thank you for so much hope. I truly wish you luck.

This may be one of the hardest posts I've made...

I've mentioned this to some people and was asked to bring it here. Normally I don't go into such personal things in public entries, but this is something very important and it is tearing at my heart.

My dear kitty, who is living in Las Vegas, Miss Boo, is very very sick. She was diagnosed last week with Lymphoma, a form of CANCER. Here's a picture of her from a few days ago, notice how much weight she's lost from being so sick. There's a Lymphoma in her throat that makes it so hard for to even eat.



A lot of my dear friends have met Boo and know she is an awesome cat- so loving and nice to everyone. I've known quite a few cats in my life and can say, without a doubt, Miss Boo is one of those great cats of cat history. Everyone who encounters Miss Boo falls in love with her. She was put on this planet for the express purpose of loving people and she still has a lot of that to get done.

She has had her first Chemotherapy treatment and is already starting to improve quite a bit! The sad thing is, Kitty Chemo is very expensive and the hard fact is, getting Boo well could cost over $5000 .

Please, everyone, continue to keep her in your thoughts and if you can spare anything, we have set up a fund for people to give whatever they can.

Times are tough for so many right now and I know it can be hard to justify helping a cat when people are struggling just to get by. Please know this kitty is loved like family and is very dear to many people's hearts, mine being just one of them.

Sorry to be so down in this post. I'm just so worried about my dear, dear Miss Boo kitty.